Second Life Vlogging & Machinima Viewer Tips

I’ve had numerous requests for this post so I thought I’d do it quickly before I leave for vacation. I use the Firestorm Viewer whenever I record video in Second Life so I will be showing the tricks and tips for recording without interruptions on that viewer.

The goal of this post is to show you how to disable as many notifications, IMs, sounds, etc.. and other interruptions you may get while recording your videos and vlogs in Second Life.

I have done a video showing these viewer tips in detail but I’ll also try and type out as many of them as I can below the video. Watch my video tutorial on YouTube: https://youtu.be/YZFFX5qZAEY

Viewer tips for video recording in Second Life:

Hide User Interface: Press CTRL+ALT+F1 – I don’t normally do this for my vlogs, tutorials and other instructional videos because I need the interface to interact with, but if you are doing a dance video or another kind of machinima, hiding the UI may be helpful. To unhide the UI once you are done, just press CTRL+ALT+F1 once again.

Hide your HUDs: Press ALT+SHIFT+H – If you want to keep your HUDs attached but don’t want them displayed in your video. To unhide them once you are done recording, press ALT+SHIFT+H again.

Hide your Linden Balance, Favorites, Location & Navigation Bar, etc: Right-click on the black menu bar at the top and uncheck Currency, Favorites, Location and any options you don’t want displayed at the top near the menu and navigation bar.

Turn off Complexity Notifications: Open Debug Settings (CTRL+ALT+SHIFT+S) then type ‘ShowMyComplexityChanges’ in search and set that to zero to turn off the complexity notifications that pop up every time you change clothing.

Turn off Names above Avatars: In the menu Avatar > Preferences (CTRL+P) > General > Halfway down the menu, turn the Name Tags off.

Disable All Group Chats: In the menu Avatar > Preferences (CTRL+P) > Chat > Chat Windows > Uncheck Disable ALL group chats. This will disable any IM windows popping up from different groups you may be a part of.

In the ‘People’ tab uncheck Notify my when somebody changes their display name and Notify me when my friends log in or out.

In the ‘Inventory’ tab uncheck any notifications you wish to.

In the ‘Alerts’ tab, slide whichever alerts you want to to the Never show box, but just be careful which ones you turn off as some of them can be very important.

Set an Autoresponse: In the menu Avatar > Preferences (CTRL+P) > Privacy > Autoresponse 1. Set an autoresponse in the second box and then turn it on under the menu Comm > Online Status > Check Autorespond. This way, people will know if you are busy recording or live streaming and may not be able to respond to them right away. I sometimes include my livestream link in the autoresponse so they can click and watch if they prefer.

Hide IM Chat Chiclets: In the menu Avatar > Preferences (CTRL+P) > User Interface > 2D Overlay tab and then check Hide group and IM chat chiclets. This will hide all of the chat chiclets that show up on the top right hand corner of your screen.

Turn off Chat Toasts: In the menu Avatar > Preferences (CTRL+P) > User Interface > Toasts and then turn off all chat toasts by setting sliders to 0. Also uncheck Show toasts in front of other windows.

These settings should help you get rid of most of the sound and notification distractions while recording. Remember to make a note of which settings you’ve changed and want to change back after you’ve done recording. I keep mine set to these now as I don’t like to have distractions any time I’m inworld since I’m pretty much always working or recording.

If you have any other suggestions or tips to help minimize distractions inworld while recording or working, leave them in the comments!

Linden Lab Snapshot and machinima policy: There are certain rules that Linden Lab has put in place that you need to be aware of before you start shooting video at different locations. If the convenant of the sim does not mention snapshots at all, then you are free to take as many pictures as you like there. However, if it doesn’t mention machinima (video) at all, then you must ask permission from the sim owner first before shooting your video at that location. I sincerely request sim owners to please take a moment right now and put in your convenants that you allow snapshots and machinima, to make it easier on vloggers who like to explore and shoot. Thank you!

Machinima Friendly Sims: The generously talented team at the Blogger and Vlogger Network has setup a page where they share Photogenic Second Life locations and beside their names they have noted some information about them including if they are Machinima (video) friendly. So if you are looking for a beautiful sim to shoot at, click over to take a look at that list, they’ve made it so easy for us.

YouTube Audio Library: You want to be careful what kind of music you are adding to your videos because if you use something that is copyrighted, youtube may delete or mute your video. Whenever I add music to my videos, I make sure it is safe to use and most of the time I get it from the YouTube Audio Library.

Off topic, I quickly wanted to tell you guys about a new website: MainstoreSL.com which shares mainstore releases from different content creators in Second Life. You can read their FAQ page to find out how to get your mainstore releases listed there.

This was my final post till August now as I leave for my honeymoon in a couple of days. Please email me if you have any questions about anything and I’ll get back to you when I return. Remember to check out my FAQ page for questions I’ve answered in the past. Thank you and have a great summer!

Strawberry you give so much fabulous insight to all of us here in Second Life. Thank you so much for sharing your wealth of information with everyone. You are the “E.F.Hutton of Second Life and Firestorm viewer”, and definitely my #1 “go to” for tips, tricks, and products available in Second Life. What an asset to us!

The Quick Preferences button on the bottom right of the viewer (at least on mine and your viewer setup), has an option to quickly turn on and off name tags. Easier than going through avatar preferences. Good place for quick options of draw distance, hover height, complexity of everyone view and more.

[…] released a tutorial for those making machinimas using the Firestorm Viewer. You’ll find it here: Second Life Vlogging & Machinima Viewer Tips. It is, of course, a video but. It is backed up with a text version too, good for quick reference. […]